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You guys are close, but missed the most poignant idea:yes, the flat earth society are the ones who are afraid of change and the 'bright ship humana' is those of us who are striving to improve ourselves.Now, visualize this: while the flat earth society is meeting, the bright ship humana are sailing far away. They have no proof and are not even sure that the earth is round yet, but they are willing to risk their lives to venture out into the unknown, rather than just accept what they are told. By "having no destination" this means they are literally going to keep sailing until they either prove that the earth is round, or fall into the abyss: "Yeah, nothing feels better than a spray of clean water / And the whistling wind on a calm summer night, / but you'd better believe that down in their quarters / The men are holding in for their dear lives."

09/22/2010 at 10:13

You guys are close, but missed the most poignant idea:yes, the flat earth society are the ones who are afraid of change and the 'bright ship humana' is those of us who are striving to improve ourselves.Now, visualize this: while the flat earth society is meeting, the bright ship humana are sailing far away. They have no proof and are not even sure that the earth is round yet, but they are willing to risk their lives to venture out into the unknown, rather than just accept what they are told. By "having no destination" this means they are literally going to keep sailing until they either prove that the earth is round, or fall into the abyss: "Yeah, nothing feels better than a spray of clean water / And the whistling wind on a calm summer night, / but you'd better believe that down in their quarters / The men are holding in for their dear lives."

I believe this one uses metaphors:
"the flat earth society" and "the bright ship humana" - back in the day, people thought the earth was flat. This was later proven false, but when first discovered Columbus was shunned upon by people unable to accept this.
"the flat earth society is meeting here today, singing happy little lies" - the flat earth society is just meant to mean everyone who (in our present day) still thinks like these people; unable to accept new ideas.
"the bright ship humana is sent far away with grave determination and no destination" - everyone who is able to accept is the "bright ship humana".
It is "sent far away with grave determination" because these are the people who push the human race forwards (scientists or whatever), always determined to make new discoveries, looking into the unknown ("far away") for their answers. There is no destination because these discoveries have no limit, nor a real purpose.
"the flat earth society is somewhere far away" - these people are far off ("away") from getting anywhere.
"with their candlesticks and compasses" - because (metaphorically) they are searching in the dark.; they are still restricted by their old beliefs that they wont allow to be changed, but still looking for new answers.
"and the bright ship humana is well on its way with grave determination..... and no destination" - these people are well on their way to gaining some new discoveries and 'advancing' our race, but still sailing nowhere.

06/28/2006 at 19:01

I believe this one uses metaphors: "the flat earth society" and "the bright ship humana" - back in the day, people thought the earth was flat. This was later proven false, but when first discovered Columbus was shunned upon by people unable to accept this.

"the flat earth society is meeting here today, singing happy little lies" - the flat earth society is just meant to mean everyone who (in our present day) still thinks like these people; unable to accept new ideas.

"the bright ship humana is sent far away with grave determination and no destination" - everyone who is able to accept is the "bright ship humana".

It is "sent far away with grave determination" because these are the people who push the human race forwards (scientists or whatever), always determined to make new discoveries, looking into the unknown ("far away") for their answers. There is no destination because these discoveries have no limit, nor a real purpose.

"the flat earth society is somewhere far away" - these people are far off ("away") from getting anywhere.

"with their candlesticks and compasses" - because (metaphorically) they are searching in the dark.; they are still restricted by their old beliefs that they wont allow to be changed, but still looking for new answers.

"and the bright ship humana is well on its way with grave determination..... and no destination" - these people are well on their way to gaining some new discoveries and 'advancing' our race, but still sailing nowhere.

I think that this song is about Christianity, and how everybody else can see that it's just plain silly, like they did years ago with the flat-earthers.
Everybody knew that those who still believed in a flat earth were just being silly, because science had already proved them wrong, much like science has proved Christianity wrong. "The flat earth society is meeting here today" refers to the church on a Sunday.

04/05/2006 at 18:33

I think that this song is about Christianity, and how everybody else can see that it's just plain silly, like they did years ago with the flat-earthers.Everybody knew that those who still believed in a flat earth were just being silly, because science had already proved them wrong, much like science has proved Christianity wrong. "The flat earth society is meeting here today" refers to the church on a Sunday.

This song is about the Flat Earth Society. The flat earth society believes that the world is flat and is in the shape of pentagon. they also believe that all towns called Springfield are linked in hyperspace. They also think that Idaho, England, Australia, and North Dakota don't really exist. they believe those places are a fabricated conspiracy.

02/03/2005 at 02:11

This song is about the Flat Earth Society. The flat earth society believes that the world is flat and is in the shape of pentagon. they also believe that all towns called Springfield are linked in hyperspace. They also think that Idaho, England, Australia, and North Dakota don't really exist. they believe those places are a fabricated conspiracy.

I feel that this song is referring to the way that religion puts 'blinders' on people who are too fixated on their religion to acknowledge science (proven facts). Back in the day, people believed that the earth was flat, and god was up in the sky (heaven). Well, unfortunately for them, someone proved that the Earth was indeed round. Nowadays, people generally agree that the Earth is round, but their religious convictions persuade them to disregard things like evolution and the possibility that there could be life elsewhere in the universe (heaven). So today's society is a little like the 'flat Earth society' of yesteryear in that most people refuse to or cannot believe that there may be life on other planets. The idea that we are the center of the universe and that life exists nowhere else but here is as ridiculous as the idea of a flat Earth. Someday science will prove that too and the blinders of religion will be shortened a little more.

07/11/2004 at 12:10

I feel that this song is referring to the way that religion puts 'blinders' on people who are too fixated on their religion to acknowledge science (proven facts). Back in the day, people believed that the earth was flat, and god was up in the sky (heaven). Well, unfortunately for them, someone proved that the Earth was indeed round. Nowadays, people generally agree that the Earth is round, but their religious convictions persuade them to disregard things like evolution and the possibility that there could be life elsewhere in the universe (heaven). So today's society is a little like the 'flat Earth society' of yesteryear in that most people refuse to or cannot believe that there may be life on other planets. The idea that we are the center of the universe and that life exists nowhere else but here is as ridiculous as the idea of a flat Earth. Someday science will prove that too and the blinders of religion will be shortened a little more.

In my opinion it is more about the fact that as a culture we always regard what we believe the truth to be the truth (because of inflated ego's etc) when in actual fact we are often wrong about this truth, if an absolute truth even exists. This applies to both religion and science. Science is nothing but observation which are often misproven (as in the Earth being flat) and religion is generally trying to explain what no reasonable scientific hypothesis can at the time, but very few of our truths are actually true if that makes any sense what so ever.

07/11/2004 at 12:09

In my opinion it is more about the fact that as a culture we always regard what we believe the truth to be the truth (because of inflated ego's etc) when in actual fact we are often wrong about this truth, if an absolute truth even exists. This applies to both religion and science. Science is nothing but observation which are often misproven (as in the Earth being flat) and religion is generally trying to explain what no reasonable scientific hypothesis can at the time, but very few of our truths are actually true if that makes any sense what so ever.

He's talking about how society is on its way or is said to be on its way hence 'The bright ship Humana' but it has no destination we are always seeking so called 'progress' but we aren't getting anywhere if you get my drift.

07/11/2004 at 12:09

He's talking about how society is on its way or is said to be on its way hence 'The bright ship Humana' but it has no destination we are always seeking so called 'progress' but we aren't getting anywhere if you get my drift.

Obviously this song has to do with Liar's and ones who only believe one side and don't listen to what other people think. I think it's a reference to Christopher Columbus and how no one believed him and they all thought the world was flat.

07/11/2004 at 12:08

Obviously this song has to do with Liar's and ones who only believe one side and don't listen to what other people think. I think it's a reference to Christopher Columbus and how no one believed him and they all thought the world was flat.